The government finally slashed Thursday the domestic price of furnace oil, mainly used in power plants for electricity generation, following a downward rally of oil price in international market.
The Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MoPEMR) reduced the pump price of furnace oil by 30 per cent to Tk 42 per litre from its previous price of Tk 60 per litre through an executive order on the day.
 Other prices of petroleum products have been kept unchanged.
 The new price would take effect after midnight, said a gazette notification.
 The Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) is currently earning huge profits through trading of all types of petroleum products as it imports oil at lower prices from the international market and sells it at higher prices, as regulated by the government.
The situation was just reverse previously as it had to import petroleum products at higher prices from the international market and sell those at lower rates in domestic market.
 The Ministry of Finance recently sought the energy ministry's opinion after oil prices hit rock-bottom in the international market, which has intensified the pressure on the government to lower domestic fuel prices.
The price of Brent crude, the benchmark in oil price in the international market, which had climbed up to US$ 120 per barrel a couple of years ago, dipped to a rock-bottom $30 per barrel recently, from which it rallied to around $40 per barrel.
The domestic oil price is the highest among the South Asian countries, said a BPC official.
The government last made changes to the domestic oil prices three years back, on January 04, 2013, when all but the price of furnace oil was raised.
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Source: The Financial Express